Golf shirt



J. H. RAAB Oct. 15, 1963 GOLF SHIRT Filed April 20, 1961 QY H- RARE:

United States Patent 0 3,306,718 GOLF ST .lay H. Rash, Elkins Park, Pa, assignor to M. H. Rash- Meyerhoif Co., Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 104,304 3 Qlaims. (Ql. 2125) This invention relates generally to a golf shirt, and more particularly relates to a golf shirt which incorporates thereinto a warning device which conveys to the golfer an indication that he is improperly bending his lead arm while moving the arms in a back swing or a down swing.

Many golf players in swinging a golf club unconsciously develop a tendency toward bending the arm at the elbow and thus lose precise control of the are described by the golf club head. As a consequence, when the golf ball is struck on the down swing, the line of flight of the ball deviates from that desired and results in a loss of driving distance, slicing of the ball which imparts an undesirable side spin thereto causing the ball to break off to one side of its desired flight path, topping of the golf ball or other undesirable consequences, all of which result in an increase in the number of strokes required to play a hole or go around the entire course. While arm bending is most predominant among inexperienced players, occasionally even experienced players tend to fall into this undesirable habit. It is therefore important that the golfer be made aware of the fact that he is bending his elbow in order that this undesirable characteristic may be concentrated upon and eliminated.

In the past, aids have been developed for preventing such arm bending, but all such known aids are attended by one or more disadvantages. Firstly, substantially all of the previously developed devices restrict the elbow motion of the wearer to such an extent as to effectively completely rigidify the arm, and, while the ultimate object of preventing arm bending may be accomplished, it is attended by a good deal of wearer discomfort and substantial annoyance. Additionally, all of the previously known devices are worn about the golfers arm in an exposed and conspicuous position, either directly against the arm while Wearing a short sleeved shirt or on the arm over and external to the sleeve of a long sleeved shirt. Most golfers are quite serious about their game and do not wish to advertise the fact that they are employing some form of aid to correct a deficiency therein, with the consequence that persons who most need the help provided by such an aid nevertheless refuse to employ such, and therefore continue and aggravate this form deficiency. In contrast to the known types of devices for aiding a golfer in maintaining a straight arm, the instant invention is neither visible to other persons nor does it rigidity the arm to the point of inflexibility. Accordingly, it is aprimary object of this invention to provide a novel golf shirt having a device built into one of the sleeves and concealed from external view which quickly and positively indicates to the wearer that he is bending his arm durin the course of a golf club swing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel golf shirt as aforesaid, wherein the straight arm aid incorporated in one sleeve of the golf shirt may in one aspect prevent more than a predetermined mount of arm flexure while giving an indication of even a small degree of arm bending, while in another aspect providing the ability for complete arm fiexure while also giving an indication of arm bending.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel golf shirt which to all external appearances is nothing more than an ordinary sports shirt and which therefore may be worn by golfers without any attendant feeling of conspicuousness or embarrassment.

The foregoing and other objects of this invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with an examination of the appended drawings, wherein:

FEGURE 1 illustrates in front view the left hand sleeve and left hand body portion of a golfing shirt according to the invention, showing in dotted outline the straight arm aid built into the inside elbow region of the shirt sleeve;

FEGURE 2 is a cross sectional view through the sleeve of the shirt shown in FIGURE 1 as would be seen when viewed along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1 and illustrates the shirt sleeve together with the straight arm device built thereinto;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view through the shirt sleeve and straight arm device as would be seen when viewed along the lines 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the straight arm device built into the s iirt sleeve as would be seen when viewed along the lines 4--l of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 illustrates partly in section and partly in elevation the straight arm device with the arm of the shirt wearer projected therethrough and showing the restr-aint imposed upon arm flexure with the rigid reinforcing element of the straight arm device in operative position;

PlGURE 6 is similar to FIGURE 5 but illustrates the straight arm device with the rigid reinforcing element removed to allow complete flexing of the arm, but with the arm still surroundingly engaged by the tubular sheath portion of the tubular device secured inside of the shirt sleeve; and

FiGURE 7 is a perspective view of the rigid element of the straight arm device as it would appear when removed from the tubular arm-surround sheath which normally holds it in operative position relative to the arm of the shirt wearer.

In the several figures, like elements are denoted by like reference characters.

Referring first to FlGURES 1 through 4, there will be seen a shirt lilhaving a sleeve 11 within which is disposed a tubular elastic sheath 12 extending for a dis tance above and below the region of the crook of the elbow and stitched into the longitudinally extending seam 13: of the arm Iii. As best seen in the showing of FIGURE 2, the tubular sheath 12 is of substantially smaller diameter than that of the shirt sleeve 11 so that when the shirt is put on by the wearer, the sheath 12 fits snugly about the arm which is projected therethrough, assuming a somewhat expanded diameter due to the elasticity thereof and the normally somewhat larger diameter of the arm of the wearer of that particularly sized shirt. As also best seen in the showing of FIGURE 2, the tubular sheath 12 is formed from a rectangular piece of elasticized material having a pair'of opposite side edges 14 and i5 turned proximate one another to form the tubular sheath. The sheath edge 15 is disposed flatwise against the inside surface of the sleeve material 16 disposed on the forepa'rt of the seam i3, and the rear edge 17 of the sleeve material portion 16 is then turned forwardly about the side edge 15 of the sheath 12 to conceal the latter. The sheath side edge is is placed flatwise against the inside surface of the shirt material edge 18 which comes into the seam l3 forwardly from the rear of the arm region. The seam l3'is then stitched together in the normal fashion, as by means of the stitching 19, to integrally secure the tubular sheath 12 into the seam 13 of the sleeve 11. While the sheath 12 is preferably made of elasticized material,,it is not mandatory that it be made entirely thereof. Sufllcient elasticized material should however be used to accomplish the proper operation of the device as described hereinafter. From the foregoing, it is of course apparent that the tubular elastic sheath 12 is completely concealed from view within the interior of the sleeve 11 and its presence cannot be detccted by external view.

Stitched to the outer surface of the tubular sheath 1?. proximate the top and bottom thereof and facing that portion of the sleeve 11 which normally falls into the bend of the elbow are a pair of pockets 2t) and 21. The upper pocket 29 is stitched along its top and side edges 22 and 23 respectively to the sheath 12 but remains open at ts bottom edge 24. Similarly, the bottom pocket 21 has its bottom and side edges 25 and 26 respectively stitched to the sheath 12 while the top edge 27 of this lower pocket 21 remains unstitched. Removably disposed within the pockets 20 and 21 is a curved stiffening member 28, the form of which is most clearly seen in the showings of FIGURES 7 and 2.

From the showing of FIGURE that with the stiifening member 28 in place within the pockets 2t) and 21 of the tubular sheath 12, and with the arm of the shirt wearer disposed through the tubular sheath, the stiffening member 28 overlies the inside of the elbow joint, extending upward to the biceps region and downward to the inside of the forearm. Thus, with the elastic sheath 12 fitted snugly about the elbow region of the arm, the stiffening member 28 lies fiatwise close against the inside of the arm both above and below the elbow. When new the golfer during his swing inadvertently tends to bend his arm, the upper edge 29 of the stiffening member 23 immediately presses against the biceps and the lower edge 30 of the stiffening member immediately presses against the inside of the forearm making the golfer immediately aware of the fact that he is beginning to bend his arm. Of course, the elasticity of the tubular sheath 12 does permit a certain amount of give so that the arm is not rigidly locked at the elbow and can be bent to a minor extent, attended by increasing pressure on the biceps and forearm from the stiffening member upper and lower edges with continued arm bending. If desired the pockets 20 and 21 could be stitched to the sheath 12 so as to position the stiffening member 28 on the outside of the elbow joint. In such a construction the top and bottom edges 29 and 30 respectively of the stiffener 28 would not of course engage the biceps and forearm as the elbow bends, but the stilfener central region would bear against and exert a signalling pressure on the point of the elbow, as for example at 31 in the showing of FIGURE 6. A limiting point in permissible elbow bending ultimately occurs but the appearance of arm mobility is not so impaired as to cause nearby persons to suspect the presence of some arm restraining device. It should of course be borne in mind that although a limited amount of arm bending is thus built into the device to preserve the external appearance of normalcy in arm movement, nevertheless the wearer is made aware of the arm bending condition immediately at its inception.

FIGURE 6 is similar to the showing of FIGURE with the exception that it illustrates the condition where the curved stifiening member 28 has been slipped out of its retaining pockets 2t) and 21, and perhaps placed in the golf bag or a pants pocket. When used in this form, the elastic tubular sheath 12 does not so restrict arm bending as to provide a physical stop limitation thereon and the arm may be bent substantially as freely as the opposite completely unrestrained arm. However, the presence of the snug fitting tubular sheath 12 still provides a. reminder of arm bending by virtue of the fact that bending of the elbow imposes a stretch on the sheath 12 at the outside of the elbow in the region 31 shown in FIGURE 6, and also gathers at the inside bend of the elbow in the region 32. The stretch and gather of the sheath 12 is of course immediately apparent to the wearer of the shirt so that 5, it wi l be appreciated while a strong physical restraint to arm bending is not imposed, nevertheless, the occurrence of arm bending is made apparent. This serves as a constant reminder to the shirt wearer and is valuable even to relatively proficient golfers. Moreover, discovery of the elastic tubular sheath by others would normally be passed off as merely providing an elbow support much in the fashion of a wrist or knee bandage, and most likely would not even be given a second thought.

Having now described my invention in conjunction with a particularly illustrated embodiment thereof, it will be understood that variations and modifications thereof may occur to those persons normally skilled in the art without departing from the essential spirit or scope of the invention, and accordingly it is intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A golf shirt having secured within one sleeve thereof and concealed from external view an elbow-bending rcstraining device comprising, a tubular sheath of flexible elastic material extending longitudinally through the sleeve from a point above the elbow region to a point below the elbow region and being of smaller opened-out cross-sectional area and the opened-out cross-sectional area of the sleeve region within which it is disposed, the tubular axis of said sheath extending substantially parallel to the sleeve length, and said tubular sheath being secured within said shirtsleeve by stitches which secure a longitudinally extending portion of said sheath into the shirtsleeve seam normally extending from the armpit to the cuff, a pair of spaced-apart pockets secured to the tubular surface of said sheath at the top and bottom regions respectively of the latter, the upper pocket being open along its downward facing edge and the lower pocket being open along its upward facing edge, and a transversely curved sheath-rigidifying member extending longitudinally of the sheath and detachably secured thereto by disposition of the upper and lower end regions of the rigidifying member respectively within the said upper and lower pockets, whereby, the arm of the shirtwcarer may be projected simultaneously through the shirt sleeve and the tubular sheath as the shirt is put on to thereby impose an elbow-bending restraint upon the arm of the shirt wearer by means of the sheath and sheath-rigidifying member.

2. A golf shirt having secured within one sleeve thereof and concealed from external view an elbow-bending rcstraining device comprising, a tubular sheath of flexible elastic material extending longitudinally through the sleeve from a point above the elbow region to a point below the elbow region, said tubular sheath being of smaller opened-out unstretched cross-sectional area than the opened-out cross-sectional area of the sleeve region within which it is disposed and also of smaller unstretched cross-sectional area than the normal arm size of the wearer of the particularly sized shirt so that the sheath will fit snugly about the wearers arm, the tubular axis of said sheath extending substantially parallel to the sleeve length, and said tubular sheath being secured within said shirtsleeve by stitches which secure a longitudinally extending portion of said sheath into the shirtsleeve seam normally extending from the armpit to the cult, and a transversely curved sheath-rigidifying member extending longitudinally substantially the length of the sheath and secured thereto, whereby the arm of the shirtwearer may be proected simultaneously through the shirtsleeve and the tubular sheath as the shirt is put on to thereby impose an elbow-bending restraint upon the arm of the shirt wearer by means of the sheath and sheath-rigidifying member.

3. A golf shirt having secured within one sleeve thereof and concealed from external view an elbow-bending restraining device comprising, a tubular sheath of flexible elastic material extending longitudinally through the sleeve from a point above the elbow region to a point below the elbow region, said tubular sheath being of smaller opened-out unstretched cross-sectional area than the opened-out cross-sectional area of the sleeve region within which it is disposed and also of smaller unstretched cross-sectional area than the normal arm size of the wearer of the particularly sized shirt so that the sheath will fit snugly about the wearers arm, the tubular axis of said sheath extending substantially parallel to the sleeve length and said tubular sheath being secured within said shirtsleeve by stitches which secure a longitudinally extending portion of said sheath into the shirtsleeve seam normally extending from the armpit to the end, a pair of spacedapart pockets secured to the tubular surface of said sheath at the top and bottom regions respectively of the latter, the upper pocket being open along its downward facing edge and the lower pocket being open along its upward facing edge, and a transversely curved sheath-rigidifying member extending longitudinally of the sheath and de tachably secured thereto by disposition of the upper and lower end regions of the rigidifying member respectively within the said upper and lower pockets, said pockets being secured to said sheath at such points that the said rigidifying member when disposed therein is positioned to lie along the inside of the arm of the shirt wearer and extend across the elbow joint from the biceps region to the upper forearm, whereby, the arm of the shirtwearer may be projected simultaneously through the shirt sleeve and the tubular sheath as the shirt is put on to thereby impose an elbow-bending restraint upon the arm of the shirt wearer by means of the sheath and sheath-rigidifying member.

References (Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 900,932 Keitel Oct. 13, 1908 1,351,731 Baldwin Sept. 7, 1920 1,414,012 Flint Apr. 25, 1922 2,468,580 Weis et al Apr. 26, 1949 2,538,469 OBrien Jan. 16, 1951 2,589,636 Smith Mar. 18, 1952 2,809,042 Wasley Oct. 8, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada Oct. 23, 1951 

1. A GOLF SHIRT HAVING SECURED WITHIN ONE SLEEVE THEREOF AND CONCEALED FROM EXTERNAL VIEW AN ELBOW-BENDING RESTRAINING DEVICE COMPRISING, A TUBULAR SHEATH OF FLEXIBLE ELASTIC MATERIAL EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THROUGH THE SLEEVE FROM A POINT ABOVE THE ELBOW REGION TO A POINT BELOW THE ELBOW REGION AND BEING OF SMALLER OPENED-OUT CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA END THE OPENED-OUT CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF THE SLEEVE REGION WITHIN WHICH IT IS DISPOSED, THE TUBULAR AXIS OF SAID SHEATH EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE SLEEVE LENGTH, AND SAID TUBULAR SHEATH BEING SECURED WITHIN SAID SHIRTSLEEVE BY STITCHES WHICH SECURE A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING PORTION OF SAID SHEATH INTO THE SHIRTSLEEVE SEAM NORMALLY EXTENDING FROM THE ARMPIT TO THE CUFF, A PAIR OF SPACED-APART POCKETS SECURED TO THE TUBULAR SURFACE OF SAID SHEATH AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM REGIONS RESPECTIVELY OF THE LATTER, THE UPPER POCKET BEING OPEN ALONG ITS DOWNWARD FACING EDGE AND THE LOWER POCKET BEING OPEN ALONG ITS UPWARD FACING EDGE, AND A TRANSVERSELY CURVED SHEATH-RIGIDIFYING MEMBER EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE SHEATH AND DETACHABLY SECURED THERETO BY DISPOSITION OF THE UPPER AND LOWER END REGIONS OF THE RIGIDIFYING MEMBER RESPECTIVELY WITHIN THE SAID UPPER AND LOWER POCKETS, WHEREBY, THE ARM OF THE SHIRTWEARER MAY BE PROJECTED SIMULTANEOUSLY THROUGH THE SHIRT SLEEVE AND THE TUBULAR SHEATH AS THE SHIRT IS PUT ON THE THEREBY IMPOSE AN ELBOW-BENDING RESTRAINT UPON THE ARM OF THE SHIRT WEARER BY MEANS OF THE SHEATH AND SHEATH-RIGIDIFYING MEMBER. 